Brazilian bishop goes on hunger strike to protest river rerouting

Published: 2005-10-05

SAO PAULO, Brazil (CNS) -- Bishop Luiz Cappio received more than 2,500 visitors Oct. 4 in the small town of Cabrobo, in northeastern Brazil's Pernambuco state. While a few came to wish him a happy 59th birthday, most visitors came to show solidarity for the bishop's decision to go on a hunger strike to protest government plans to change the course of Brazil's Sao Francisco River. Coincidentally, Oct. 4 was the 504th anniversary of the discovery of the river, known as "Old Chico." The same day, after increased media coverage of the hunger strike, the government announced it was temporarily suspending the start of the project until President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva had a chance to speak personally to Bishop Cappio. By Oct. 5 there was no word on whether the bishop had agreed to stop the strike. Bishop Cappio, who has lived on the banks of the Sao Francisco for the past 26 years, left his home in Barra, in neighboring Bahia state, to go to Cabrobo, the starting point for the rerouting project. The bishop, known to many as the river's guardian angel, started his hunger strike Sept. 26 and said he would continue until da Silva agreed to halt the project.

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